Using the Connectivity Kit to Access a Btrieve Database

 Last reviewed: April 30, 1996
Article ID: Q115837
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5, 2.5a, 2.5b, 2.6
  • Microsoft FoxPro Connectivity Kit, versions 2.5, 2.6

SUMMARY

This article describes how to use the FoxPro Connectivity Kit and ODBC to access data that resides in a Btrieve database.

MORE INFORMATION

This article assumes that you have the Btrieve ODBC driver that is available as a part of the Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Driver Kit (DDDK). This driver is also included with some Microsoft products, such as Microsoft Word for Windows and Microsoft Excel for Windows.

To connect to a Btrieve data source, you must do the following:

  1. Obtain WBTRCALL.DLL from Btrieve. This file is part of the Btrieve for Windows product. The above DLL must be installed and accessible on the system.

  2. Install the Btrieve ODBC Driver and set up a Btrieve data source through the ODBC Btrieve Setup dialog box in the Windows Control Panel. Since this is a level 1 ODBC driver, the data source is a directory name or the current directory, as indicated in the Setup dialog box.

  3. Make sure a Btrieve Data Definition File (DDF) is in the Btrieve data directory and make sure it points to the data files correctly (the paths to the Btrieve data files are hard-coded in the DDF).

The following is a code sample that "connects" to a Btrieve data source: 

   *-- Connect to a Btrieve data source
   PRIVATE lcSource, lcUser, lcPwd, hDBHdle, lnDBRes

   *-- Init memvars
   STORE 0 TO hDBHdle, lnDBRes
   lcSource = "Btrieve"     && Btrieve data source name from ODBC dialog
   lcUser = ""          && Not needed for single-tier drivers
   lcPwd = ""          && Normally not needed for Btrieve

   *-- Load library if not already
   IF !"FPSQL" $ SET('library')
      SET LIBRARY TO FPSQL.FLL
   ENDIF
   WAIT WINDOW "Attempting connection ..." NOWAIT
   hDBHdle = dbConnect(lcSource, lcUser, lcPwd, "")
   IF hDBHdle > 0
      WAIT WINDOW ;
    "Connected to Btrieve -  Handle:"+STR(hDBHdle,1,0) TIMEOUT 2
   ELSE
      WAIT WINDOW ;
    "Unable to connect to Btrieve .."
   ENDIF
NOTE: The Connectivity Kit can return a valid connection handle to FoxPro even if no Btrieve DDF file exists. Without a DDF file, however, nothing else can be accomplished, because the Connectivity Kit has no way of knowing what tables/columns are contained in the Btrieve *.DAT files.

If the Btrieve data source does not point to a specific directory (because Use Current Directory was selected in the Setup dialog box), you can use the following DBExec() command to specify the desired directory: 

   lnDbRes = DBExec(hDBHdle, "use f:\odbcdata\btrieve")
   *(change drive and directory to suit)
Btrieve is manufactured by Btrieve Technologies, Inc., a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability.

REFERENCES

Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Driver Kit Btrieve Driver online Help file

Additional reference words: FoxWin 2.50 2.50a 2.50b 2.60 ck betrieve
KBCategory: kbinterop kbtool kbprg kbcode
KBSubcategory: FxtoolCk

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Last reviewed: April 30, 1996
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